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Pinning Down Obama on Iraq
Responding to these four questions would let us know exactly where he stands on the war.
3. Mr. Obama, you’ve claimed that the Iraq War has made the U.S. less safe. At one point during the primary, you said specifically:
Above all, the war in Iraq has emboldened Al-Qaeda, whose recruitment has jumped and whose leadership enjoys a safe haven in Pakistan – a thousand miles from Iraq.
But, Senator, we read report after report describing the defeat or near defeat of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Outside of Iraq, Osama bin Laden has been reduced to the role of a mythical figure or occasional spoken word artist. Recently, CIA Director Michael Hayden said
Al Qaeda is on the verge of a strategic defeat in Iraq. There are clear elements of clear defeat in Saudi Arabia.
You are seeing significant portions of the Islamic world take issue, and take issue publicly with Al Qaeda’s world view and Al Qaeda’s tactics and Al Qaeda’s vision for the future.
And other figures seem to confirm this: According to Pew Center research, support for suicide bombing in the Muslim world has plummeted since the war began, so, too, has confidence in Osama bin Laden. The picture that emerges is one of defeat for Al Qaeda at the operational level, marginalization at the leadership level, and a reversal in terms of wider Muslim sympathy. Add to this the fact that the U.S. has not been attacked since September 11, 2001. Against such a backdrop, Senator, what metric or metrics can you cite that demonstrate an “embolden[ing]]” of Al Qaeda as a result of the war?
4. Finally, Senator, Democrats and other critics of the war have often characterized the idea of “victory” in Iraq as something not only unattainable, but indefinable as well. The concept has been almost deconstructed into the realm of the purely rhetorical — appearing in quotation marks only — and never discussed as a real world aim. Nancy Pelosi has said, “You can define victory any way you want,” and added that war is merely “a situation to be resolved.”
Countless anti-war bloggers and everyday Americans have continually put the question to those who support the war: “What does victory even mean?” It seems that the changing facts on the ground in Iraq have shifted the onus onto those who oppose the war. Here is what we have seen and continue to see in Iraq: Saddam Hussein’s regime toppled, Al-Qaeda being pummeled, Shiite militias being defeated, a reconciled and consensual government forging ahead, oil production up, a continuous return of Iraqi refugees, and a booming economy attracting international investment. The situation remains fragile and progress is certainly reversible, but if these trends continue would that be something you would eventually be willing to call victory?
Senator Obama, for the love of God, in your eyes and the eyes of the anti-war crowd, will the U.S. ever be allowed to win this war?
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Abe Greenwald is the assistant online editor at Commentary.
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23 Comments
1. Ciscokid:Liberal Democrats have used Iraq as a political football, kicking it to sway opinion thereby ringing up votes. Question #1 concerning Obama’s request for depoliticizing Iraq, by admitting mistakes, should now be requested of Obama to do the same. Running to the middle after all the anti-war rhetoric, makes it very clear; Obama stands for nothing other than to be elected president. Politics aside, our American military effort and sacrifice in Iraq, may well be recorded in history, as one of the greatest turnarounds to victory since the American Revolution. For all the adversity they faced and still do to degrees, they never lost site of their mission and have turned Iraq well on its way to stability and freedom. Given time and by voicing “unified” support here at home, will break the backs of the extremist. They’ve more than earned the right to finish the job and disserve honor and respect for the results they’ve accomplished.
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:20 am 2. Alan:Question 3 is a bit of a softball (open any NYT from the past 5 years for a preview of his answer), and question 4 is preposterous. Victory is when we can leave without it feeling like a concession. If that happens during the next presidency, I’ll eat my hat.
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:23 am 3. Richard:Will we ever get those answers?
Dubious at best.
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:24 am 4. Terry Gain:It doesn’t matter what Obama says now. Not only did he say the The Surge would not work, he said it would make it worse. (I knew and was posting 15 months ago that The Surge was working. One only had to read MNF-Iraq to see the daily progress.)
In addition to saying the U. S. should not stay in the middle of a civil war (like hell it was)he said they shouldn’t stay to prevent genicide.
He now claims that he always said the timing of withdrawal should be governed by the safety of American troops and and the stability of Iraq.
He is an audacious liar who hasn’t got a clue how to defend American against Islamofascism. He deserves to be ridiculed.
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:36 am 5. Letalis Maximus, Esq.:Has Reagan been allowed to win the Cold War?
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:53 am 6. Bobby Mcgill:The point that Obama himself has put politics into the war is well taken and quite true. Then again, what politician was never an opportunist? Bush rode rising terrorism into the White House his second term(cowboy boots and all) and now Obama is trying to run in on its decline. So goes the cycle.
I am one of those unabashed supporters of the war purely based on oil. Democracy? Right. The only thing that was holding that country together was the strong hand of Saddam, and the Bush teams touting of doing it for “democracy” was a joke right out of the bag –and will continue to be so for years to come. The strong hand now is the U.S. military. Just like Americans needed strong laws to temper the eruption of ethnic wars.
Pulling out of Iraq altogether is a ludicrous proposition. Ever since Eisenhower, American policy has been to protect the supply of oil. To allow it to fall into the hands of Iran or any of the other nefarious regional powers there is tantamount to economic suicide.
While I am a supporter of Obama this go round for no other reason than I would like to see the executive branch get a much needed shake up, I wish he would get with the program in Iraq, stop pandering to the anti-war crowd and lay out the facts for what they are. Iraq is a country at the heart of our strategic economic interests, and until the next whiz kid figures out how to power our economy on something other than petro, that is just the way it is.
Bobby McGill
Jul 8, 2008 - 4:55 am 7. David Thomson:http://idlewordship.com
“Bush rode rising terrorism into the White House his second term(cowboy boots and all)”
Nonsense. George W. Bush never exaggerated the threat of Islamic nihilism. Its decline has not reached the point where we can nonchalantly deem terrorism to be a minor problem. Supporting the intellectually shallow and poorly read B. Obama to simply “see the executive branch gets a much needed shake up” is utterly absurd. This man does not even begin to understand the issues surrounding national defense. One is reminded of how Nikita Khrushchev bullied the ill prepared John F. Kennedy—and Obama is not even half as ready as was JFK.
Jul 8, 2008 - 5:28 am 8. Terry Gain:Bobbt McGill
Your post is one of the most fatuous and non-thinking “pro war” comments I’ve ever read. Obama is finally getting Iraq right when the answer is obvious to everyone. What makes you think he will get the next foreign policy question right?
Your comment is embarrassing to our side. Please reconsider your “pro war” position
Jul 8, 2008 - 6:02 am 9. SAF:Obama is all about getting elected to term one and then all about getting elected to term two. He will do what ever he has to achieve those goals. So if it looks expedient in term one to “win the war” he will use his cronies in the press to present it as a war he won. If loosing looks better politically he will paint George Bush and the republicans as the culprits as he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
Its not about the truth. Its about Obama being in the Oval office.
Jul 8, 2008 - 6:49 am 10. Korla Pundit:The facts now emerging about Nancy Pelosi’s (and other Dems’) involvement with FARC, seeking an agreement with them to NOT release those hostages (including Americans) until Obama became President, should get the whole rat’s nest thrown before a tribunal for sedition.
Why doesn’t the Justice Department ever take any of this treachery seriously. Are they too busy looking into Republicans with wide stances to get involved with a real-world conspiracy to sell out to our worst enemies?
Maybe those hostages should at least sue Pelosi for their 5 years confinement in the jungle. The discovery period would be a real eye-opener.
Jul 8, 2008 - 6:50 am 11. John Samford:“While I am a supporter of Obama this go round for no other reason than I would like to see the executive branch get a much needed shake up”
That, Sir, is illegal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Service_Reform_Act_of_1978
The executive branch sees the President as a passing fad. One to be mostly ignored until the next one comes along.
Jul 8, 2008 - 7:05 am 12. Jbl:Ohhhh….BAMA is EVERYTHING the bureaucrats hate. They will fukk him raw.
The origonal civil service act (Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act 1884) was an attempt to replace the spoils system with a professional bureaucracy. It worked all to well and now there is a perpetual ‘reform the bureaucracy’ committee. It is controlled by the bureaucrats, of course, so any reform will just make things worse. Like the 1978 version did. I’m afraid the only thing that will work is a Islamic ‘bucket of sunshine’ in the tidal basin. That isn’t going to happen, since the Mullahs need for there to be someone to sign the surrender documents.
These are GREAT questions Obama will never be asked. Obama does not get hard questions. He gets accolades, only.
Jul 8, 2008 - 8:01 am 13. Clyde:Abe – Tim Russert’s spot is open. Got the resume up-to-date? Could you hear the belly-aching from the Obama camp after those questions. It would make Hillary’s whining sound like a spring day.
Jul 8, 2008 - 11:11 am 14. Brian H:Almost any request for an extemporaneous answer causes Oblabla to chew shoe leather. He’s a wind-up oration robot.
If he has any stable principles other than elevating himself to the head of a ruling Marxist cabal, no one has yet seen any sign of them.
Jul 8, 2008 - 6:11 pm 15. HillaryforPresident:Common, we Hillary fans have gotten over Obama.
What do you expect? Let him destroy himself, but never us.
Conservatives and Republicans should not repulse McCain just because he also takes care of us, Moderate Democrats. Many of us are pro-life, honor the patriotism of our soldiers, believe in sanctity of marriage. But like McCain, common sense also tells us that we need to support stable life for gays/lesbians to make them decent human beings and we need to protect environment.
On the issue of war, many democrats have been brainwashed. JFK and Truman, Democrats themselves, went to war… whether right or wrong… they were Presidents of us all. Even McCain served as Democrat President. MY OPINION IS: WHEN THE PRESIDENT GOES TO WAR… SO IS THE REST OF US – no justification needed. WE are justified if we win the WAR.
I now support McCain to continue the war against Terrorism and Islmofascism. But as a democrat, I believe also that we need to couple this with reaching out the civilian Muslim people that we are not waging war agaisnt their religion. We need to tell them Jihadism is not really consistent the teaching of Mohammed and Allah.
I believe now that only McCain can truly establish unity among our people. Four years of McCain may be what we really need to gather our acts together as one people, one nation.
The hell with this two-party system…. it only divides the American people and has become Anti-American.
I am now crossing party line…
I will vote for McCain! That’s final. Period.
Jul 9, 2008 - 12:13 am 16. tanstaafl:Responding to these four questions would let us know exactly where he stands on the war.
I don’t think Obama knows where he stands on the war.
(Pronouncements to appeal to the base in order to snag the nomination notwithstanding.)
At this point, from what I’ve seen of Senator Obama’s shifting (for expediency or to widen his “appeal”) and wishy-washyness, I really wouldn’t want the future of American foreign policy to rest exclusively (or even largely) in his hands.
Jul 9, 2008 - 9:06 am 17. ReCon USMC:Now We know who Oboma really ( IS ) YOU CAN PIN DOWN A MARXIST QUOTE KARL MARX …. 1919 .
This is the most important deep study and well researched material on Oboma’s past life I have seen to date .It tells who’s ,their ACTIVIST Marxist Politics in Hawaii , where’s , times and places and his works in his books page by page and in his own thoughts and words .
His though to be Typical White GRAND MOTHER is not at all ..believe me !!!!!!!
This blows the cover off Oboma’s past life and whys he says what he says and deeply believes what he believes in his Activism politics .
Well brain washed by Black MARXIST in Hawaii long before he moved to Chicago life of Activism with the poor .
Rev Wright is only a small piece of the former Oboma larger puzzle .
I now understand completely . He has the same kind of friends he had in Hawaii … Exactly …… All anti American .
Oboma is far more Freighting than Al Quada, Iran or Hesballah .
I can’t but help believe the media new this Truth on him as well .
Since it was no secret finally told by Andrew Walden knowing if it was a lie he would be sued right down to his last penny .
I would vote fore Anybody other than Oboma now .
Found on The American Thinker .com
Jul 9, 2008 - 10:47 am 18. Drew-ROC:What Barack Obama learned from the Communist Party
By Andrew Walden
Do you seriously think you’d get a straight up answer from a trained lawyer? Despite the fact he may have forgotten his constitutional law, Obama hasn’t forgotten his oratory and debate training from law school.
Jul 9, 2008 - 1:27 pm 19. Bill Gnade:Dear Mr. Greenwald,
Thank you for a very fine and engaging essay. All four questions are brilliantly presented. I truly wish that answers would be forthcoming from Mr. Obama, but an irresistible skepticism always dashes my hopes in these matters.
Peace.
BG
Jul 9, 2008 - 2:24 pm 20. Shef Rogers:How ironic! Greenwald wants us to “pin down” Obama–and I’m all for that–but has refused to admit his own disastrously wrong predictions about the Middle East, most recently his Pajamas Media article, “The Arab Spring Is Happening Now.” Two weeks after Greenwald predicted that Beirut was embracing democracy, Hizbullah occupied the city. Why do we still listen to this man?
Jul 9, 2008 - 7:21 pm 21. chris:Can someone please tell me what is going on at jihadwatch.org, faithfreedom.org and investigativeproject.org sites. None of those sites is showing. Have they been hacked?
Jul 10, 2008 - 4:36 am 22. Abe Greenwald:Shef Rogers,
Nowhere in the piece to which you refer did I assert that Beirut was embracing democracy. I wrote about hopeful signs in Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The article’s teaser — which I did not write — worded things somewhat confusingly so that one who didn’t read the actual piece might think as you do. But, to repeat: absolutely nowhere in the article did I say anything about any hopeful signs of democracy in present-day Lebanon. In future, you should read beyond the teasers before formulating your critiques.
Abe
Jul 10, 2008 - 9:24 am 23. Commentary » Blog Archive » It’s All The Same Enemy:[...] presidential election is about which candidate understands those two things and which candidate is trying to cling to politicized and discredited criticisms of the War on [...]
Jul 10, 2008 - 9:52 am